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9 Essential Steps to Starting a Coaching Business Checklist
Morgan Battista
Marketing expert with 10 years of experience and owner of Pleasant View Media.
Table of Contents
Ready to take the plunge into the coaching business? That’s fantastic, and let me just say—you’re stepping into a world ripe with potential. Keep reading for your starting a coaching business checklist, and get going right away.
You and I both know, that the thought of turning your passion into a full-fledged business is exhilarating but also a smidge overwhelming. So, I’ve put together this starting a coaching business checklist that’s like a fine Bordeaux for aspiring coaches—it only gets better as you delve in. Cheers!
✅ Know Your Coaching Niche is Your First Step with Our Starting s Coaching Business Checklist
Picture this: you’re at a wine-tasting event. You wouldn’t expect them to serve the same red wine to every single person, right? No. They will have different varieties that suite different tastes, and not every winery offers the same types of wine. They craft their wines based on where they’re located, the weather, the types of grapes that do well there, and the types of wine lovers they want to attract.
The same goes for your coaching business. Knowing your niche is the starting point of a successful coaching career.
And just so we are on the same page, a niche is a section of the market you want to serve. You can read the full definition here.
The key is to niche down to a small enough section of the market that you can stand out and have an impact, but big enough that there are still plenty of people to serve.
Spoiler alert: it’s really hard to niche down too much. Most people are not niching down enough in their coaching business.
Tips for finding your coaching business niche with our starting a coaching business checklist:
- Identify your strengths and passions. Pick something you want to wake up every day and do. It might be super profitable but if you don’t love it, you won’t give it the effort needed to succeed.
- Do market research to understand what your target audience wants. Search hashtags related to the niche online. Ask friends and family who are potentially in your niche.
The aim is to combine your skills and market needs into a niche that makes you the sommelier of your field.
✅ Validate your idea for your coaching business
What does it mean to validate your coaching business? If we go back to the wine analogy, if you’re about to plan a vineyard, you’re probably going to check the soil and the climate first, right? That’s what you’re going to do with your idea or offers in your coaching business if you follow our starting a coaching business checklist.
You don’t want to put all your time and energy into creating something that no one actually wants. But if you haven’t even started your business yet, how can you find out if your offer or idea will work? Let’s find out in the tips below.
Tips:
- Survey your niche. If you already have a following or audience, survey them. Or you can find Facebook groups in your niche and either search the posts to see if people talk about your idea, or you can ask if the group rules allow it.
- Consult with mentors or other professionals in your industry. Have coach friends or mentors in your niche? Ask them!
- What are your competitors doing? Do not copy them, but if you see that they are offering similar ideas to yours then that means there is probably a market for it. Competition is a good thing. If there was no competition then that means no one wants what you want to offer in your coaching business.
Their feedback is like that first sip—critical for the experience that follows.
✅ Craft your coaching offers
Ah, the part we’ve all been waiting for—what’s on the menu? In coaching, it’s vital to have a variety of offerings that cater to different needs and budgets. Let’s split this up into 4 categories that are all based on the price of the offer, and also how much of your time it takes for you to deliver those offers. The higher the ticket more time and more access clients/customers are going to get to you.
High-ticket:
- These are your premium, top-shelf services. If this service were a wine it would be an awesome vintage that has been aging for many years. It’s rich, deep, and worth the investment. It costs more because it takes more of your time and attention. This might be your 1-on-1 options or small group coaching where you will be very involved in the coaching, not much automation or DIY courses.
Mid-ticket:
- This is the wine you might pick up for a nice dinner, but it won’t break the bank. This might be something like a signature course. It’s meaty. There’s a lot there and you spent a tone of time crafting this offer, but clients probably won’t get a ton of direct access to you.
Low-ticket:
- Think of this as your house wine. It’s accessible and allows people to test out your services without a big commitment. This could be an ebook, a mini-course, a workshop… something that they can consume in like a day and doesn’t take a tone of setup on your part. BUT – they still need to get results.
Freebie:
- This is your free sample—your wine tasting. Create a valuable free offer that gives people a sip of what you can provide. This can actually look quite similar to your low-ticket offer but is perhaps just a little slimmer. Not quite as full. But the key is you can’t really skimp on this either. You want it to give your clients actual results. If people don’t see results or learn something important in your freebie, they probably won’t wanna buy.
✅ Build your coaching brand
You want your brand to be as memorable as that wine you can’t stop thinking about from your college trip to Barcelona in 2005.
Design a Logo That Reflects Your Coaching Business Persona
Your logo is the first impression people get of your brand, kind of like the label on a wine bottle. It’s what people remember and recognize, so make it count.
- Graphics: Think about the kind of imagery that represents you—abstract, illustrative, or textual?
- Colors: Use colors that align with your intended message. Warmer colors can convey passion and energy, while cooler colors can convey calmness and trustworthiness.
- Fonts: Don’t overlook the typeface. Fonts can portray your brand as either modern or traditional, playful or serious.
- Versatility: Ensure your logo looks good on business cards, social media profiles, and merchandise.
Choose a Color Scheme That Resonates with Your Ideal Coaching Client
Any group of people is going to be a diverse and dynamic group, but they often gravitate towards certain aesthetic choices. Think about the color schemes popular on Instagram or Pinterest, and consider how these might fit into your brand’s palette.
- Psychology of Color: Colors evoke emotions. For instance, blues evoke trust, pinks are romantic, and greens are calming.
- Trend Awareness: Keep an eye on design trends. Decide whether going with trends makes sense or maybe you want to go against the trends because your ideal audience is even more forward than trends, or they are rebellious and want to be different..
Consistency Is Key for Your Coaching Biz
Remember the last time you bought a bottle of wine that you’d tried before? You expected it to taste just like the last one you had—and it did! Consistency builds trust and reliability.
- Style Guide: Create a brand style guide to maintain consistency across all channels.
- Voice and Tone: Whether it’s through your website copy, social media posts, or even the way you answer emails, keep your brand voice consistent.
- Imagery: The visuals you choose for your blog posts, social media, or advertisements should have a cohesive look.
Remember, consistency is key, just like how a bottle of wine should taste the same each time you buy it. (Wow we are really sticking with the wine analogy here aren’t we?)
✅ Channel your inner Elle Woods and legal up your coaching business
First of all… I might have taken the LSAT’s, but I never went to law school. So please seek out a lawyer if you need to. This isn’t legal advice. Just some general tips for what you need to watch out for with our starting a coaching business checklist.
Alright, time to get a bit serious. You wouldn’t drive after too many glasses of wine, and similarly, you wouldn’t want to start a business without sorting the legalities.
Tips:
- Register your business and get the necessary permits. I operated as a sole proprietor while freelancing but now am an LLC.
- Have a solid contract template ready. You can get a lawyer to help you out, or do some Googling and write your own. It depends on how open you are to risk.
- Keep the taxman happy by staying ahead on your tax obligations. I use TurboTax and QuickBooks.
✅ Create your content strategy
A business without content is like a wine cellar without wine—pretty useless. Your website is your wine label; it’s what people see first. But ya also gotta fill that bottle.
Content nowadays can mean everything from blog posts to TikTok videos and everything in between.
But right now we are talking about you website, and blog.
You do not HAVE to have a blog, but I would suggest trying to get at least maybe 5-10 blogs posted to show your expertise and also help yout SEO. You wanna get found on Google, right?
Tips:
- Build an engaging and mobile-friendly website.
- Find keywords you can shoot for.
- Plan a content calendar that aligns with your brand voice and audience needs.
Quality over quantity, my friends. One great blog post can do more than ten mediocre ones.
✅ Get social with your coaching business
Social media is your wine club—the place people go to learn more, share experiences, and find out what’s new. (and we are really still going with this wine metaphor, hope you love it.)
If you have a business then you gotta be on social media. And while some people will tell you to try to be everywhere, I will have to beg to differ. Choose 1-2 platforms that are going to be your focus, and stick to them until you feel confident enough in your content and skills to branch out.
I know people will tell you how you can easily repurpose content between platforms, but unless you understand those platforms you’re gonna do it wrong and it won’t be worth the time.
However there is a caveat. You SHOULD go to each platform that is popular and you may want to use someday and at least claim the username or url you want for your brand.
Tips:
- Know where your audience is. If you want to reach Gen Z don’t focus on Facebook. And millennials are filling up IG right now.
- Focus on organic growth before ads. You can try social ads (I LOVE meta ads), but not until you feel confident in your offer and you know what kind of content does will organically.
✅ Set up your sales funnel and email marketing for your coaching biz
You’ve got their attention; now it’s time to lead them down the rabbit hole, or should I say, the wine cellar?
If you want the sales on autopilot everyone is talking about, you gotta have a sales funnel with email marketing. The first step is to create a lead magnet that people can sign up for free. Then automate 5-8 follow-up emails that add value and pitch your product/service.
I recommend ConvertKit as your email service provider to get started because it’s easy to use and can grow with you. Other options include Mailerlite and Flodesk.
Tips:
- Set up a basic sales funnel that guides potential clients through the customer journey.
- Email marketing isn’t a dusty old bottle in the cellar; it’s the sommelier that recommends the best choices to customers.
✅ Get your finances in order
Honestly this is my least favorite part. I love making the money, but actually dealing with the finances is another thing. That’s why I use two tools that help me track and take care of all my financial obligations like taxes, sending invoices, expenses, and more.
Those are Honeybook for a client management system and Quickbooks for help with bookkeeping and taxes.
Tips:
- Choose apps or software that help do the work for you.
- Reach out to an accountant for help!
Need more personal guidance beyond starting your coaching business checklist? Click the button below to book a free call and see if we are a good fit to help you grow.
